Herbert Frederick Moseley was born in Canada and studied at McGill University passing his BA in 1926. He attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar and won the Radcliffe Prize. He gained practical experience at St Thomas's Hospital and became Hunterian Professor at the College in 1950. Returning to Canada he eventually became Director of the Accident Service and surgeon to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal. He was also Associate Professor of Surgery at McGill University. He was a popular author and a number of his books went into several editions. His book *Shoulder lesions*, 1945, was the first of a number of titles dealing with the orthopaedic problems of this part of the body, in which he was an expert. He retired and went to live in Jackson, USA, where he died in December 1984.